TweetStorm seeks end to Egypt's anti-LGBT arrests

This appeal for an end to Egypt’s anti-LGBT crackdown shows the rainbow flag that was hoisted at the concert on Sept. 22.

“We will not let the world look away while people are detained, arrested, tortured and even disappear because they are ‘suspected’ of being gay.” That’s why activists are calling for an online “tweetstorm” today, seeking the end to Egypt’s latest wave of anti-LGBT arrests, detentions and trials.

The arrests continue a much longer and more widespread crackdown by the regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that started in late 2013, primarily targeting human rights defenders and Sisi’s political opponents. By late 2016, at least 274 LGBTQ people in Egypt were targets of police action, prosecution and hate crimes, according to a tally from the advocacy group Solidarity with Egypt LGBTQ+.